Patty package in combination with serving means



L. PETERS 3,183,101 PATTY ncxmia IN couanm'xon WITH SERVING MEANS 5 Sheet-Sheet 1 Filed July 31, 1962 my 11', 1965 I L. PETERS 3,183,101

PATTY PACKAGE IN COMBINATION WITH SERVING MEANS Filed July 31, 1962 s Sheets-Sheet 2 I 1965 L. PETERS 3,183,101

PATTY PACKAGE IN COMBINATION WITH SERVING MEANS mm m 31, 1962 s Sheets-Shegt a INVENTOR.

ATT'YS direct contact with the butter. upon by sanitary authorities, and in some instances they problem of time.

' 3,183,101 PATTY PACKAGE IN vCOMBINATION WITH SERVING MEANS Leo Peters, 750 Plymouth Road SE.,

, GraudRapids, Mich. F iied July 31,1962, Ser- No.- 213,753 .5 .Claims. (Cl. 99-471) This invention relates to a patty packaging'and serving means and method, and more particularly to a method and means by which individual food patties may be prepared, packaged, transported, dispensed, and served with a handle-equipped plate supporting the patty.

The invention is particularly useful in the packaging and serving of patties of butter, but it is useful also in the serving of other foods, such as margarine, cheese, ice cream, sherbet, peanut butter, jellies, candy, meats, and other foods or materials which may be served in I .small individual portions.

Butterpatties at present are made by two methods. A thin;(% inch) block of chilled (hard) butter is scored into plan'ul-ar divisions that circumscribethe outline of each patty. Such patties are made in multiple aggregates large aggregate groups of twenty, forty, sixty or more." The latter method is described in my copending applicalion Serial'No. 185,901. 1

With each of'the abovemethods, it is necessary, before serving the patties in the dining room, to separate each patty from its aggregate so that it may be individually served. Such separation is generally done by hand because this isthe most expeditious and the safest (least amount of breakage and loss) way of doing it. In the case of the first method, however, human hands come in Such contact is frowned prohibit it,;but because it is the simplest and easiest method of separating patties, the sanitary authorities con- 'In large institutional eating places, such as hospitals and plant cafeterias,'where hundreds and even thousands are served at one meal, a determined effort is made to have butter-patty handling done on a sanitary, non-handtouchingbasis. However, to date no satisfactory method has been devised for doingthis with either of the two said methods when itcomes toplacing the patty on an individ- States, Patent shipping containers.

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special part-time help, some institutional managements arrange to have their personnel place butter patties on small patty plates during non-mealtime hours of the day. Other institutions pay a fifteen to twenty-five percent premium for butter patties which have been separated and placed onindividual paper plates at the place of patty manufacture. The latter practice has been growing in recent years even though it costs eating establishments more money for their butter patties. While it has the advantage of speed and sanitation, it has Several disadvantages, both for the manufacturer and the final consumer. From the standpoint of the manufacturer, complicated and expensive machinery is required. Also, it necessitates a method of packaging calling for (l) a liner on top of each patty in order to prevent its sticking to the paper plate stacked on top of it or next to it, (2) inner boxes and dividers to keep patties from contacting and sticking to each other, and (3) greatly enlarged Finally, it renders almost impossible the'maintenance of any kind of identifying brand or decorative imprint on the surface of the butter patty.

From the standpoint of the consumer, the parchment cover which is placed on each patty must be removed before the patty is accessible. Should the butter be soft, the stripping off of the cover is difficult because butter clings to it and the diner has to scrape off the butter if it is to be salvaged for use. At the same time, the appearance of the patty is spoiled. In addition, the paper plates take up more plate or table area than the area of the patty itself, and their edges are turned up so that the butter cannot be scraped easily off the plate. Holding and manipulating thelight paper plate with its upturned edges during the removal of the butter is a difficult and often irritating experience for the diner.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and means for overcoming the above-described difficulties and objections. A further object is to provide a new method and means for (1) manufacturing and shipping and dispensing butter or other food patties in large aggregates with each individual patty having its own plate or support, together with an attached handle, while -at the same time keeping the aggregated groups intact and unseparated so that (2) each individual patty with each attached plate-with-handle may be easily and speedily separated from its aggregated group at the point of use without being touched by human hands, and then (3) placing before a diner a patty having a tightlyadhering plate with a long handle to enable said diner to pick up the plate and patty easily and without touching the food with his fingers. A further object is to provide a plate-like liner or base for food patties which will not ual serving dish? after it has been separated from itsaggregate group. v

'In addition to' the problem of sanitation, there is the Speed of service, especially with a food like butter that melts at room temperatures, is highly uimportant. The problem is compounded because mealtimein ea-tingestablishments is a very critical time. Thus anything, like butter-patty dispensing, which requires considerable. time comes under the close scrutiny by managementin orderto find ways of doing the job more expeditiouslywhile at thesame time preserving'essential qualities. 7

To avoid crowding at mealtime and the necessity for materially increase the space required for storage or shipping, while at the same time avoiding the necessity for additional liners or dividers on the top side of the patty. Yet another object is to provide aggregated groups of patties with plate-like liners having handles, the liners being substantially co-extensive with the linear area occupied by the patties, while at the same time permitting the individual patties to be readily separated without contact with the hands and while supporting the patties for ready removal. Other specific objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is shown in an illustrative embodiment by theaccompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a plastic container rectangular plate-like liners 13.

for food patties with the upper surfaces of the food exposed; FIG. 2, a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing plate-like segmental liners above the exposed surfaces of the food; FIG. 3, a perspective view of the food-supporting container in inverted position and showing the flexible molds or pockets of the container being depressed for the removal of the molded patties; FIG. 4, a perspective view of the container with the segmental plate-like liners thereon, the container being flexed to expose the handles of the segmental pulate-like liners; FIG. 5, a perspective view of a segmental plate-like liner overlying two food patties; FIG. 6, a view of the structure shown in FIG. 5 with the liners shown in separated relation; FIG. 7, a view of an individual plate-like liner supporting a food patty, the liner being held by the handle in a position for placement onto a plate; FIG. 8, a perspective and exploded view of the patty, flexible liner therefor, and the segmental plate-like support; FIG. 9,- a perspective view of a platelike support underlying a square liner which in turn underlies a patty of butter; FIG. 10, a view similar to FIG.

9 but showing the handle in angular position for ready grasping; and FIG. 11, a top plan view of the structure shown in FIG. 10.

In the illustration given in FIG. 1, a mold support for butter or other plastic food or material is shown. Preferably, the support comprises a plastic sheet 10 having portions thereof drawn downwardly to form pockets or mold cavities 11, and within the cavities is butter or other moldable material 12. The structure is shown in greater detail in my copending application Serial No. 185,901.

Over the exposed surfaces of the butter, FIG. 2, are placed In the specific illustration given, each liner 13 has an enlarged base portion 14 and a narrow handle portion 15. In other words, the rectangular member 13 is divided along the line 16 to form two plate-like segments, each of which has an enlarged base portion 14 and a handle portion 15. Immediately over each butter or other food patty 12 is placed a thin sheet liner 17 which may be formed of paper, plastic, or over suitable material. Such sheet 17 is secured (by adhesive or heat-sealing or other means) to the base portion 14 of one of the segments of each plate 13.

The segmental plates 13 are preferably formed of relatively rigid material, such as cardboard, thick paper or plastic, etc., so that the patty resting on the flexible liner 17 can be supported by the plate segment when the handle 15 is grasped, as illustrated best in FIG. 7.

While the two individual segments of the member 13 with their attached liners 17 are shown with enlarged bases 14 and narrow handles 15, it will be understood that the relative areas of the handle and the base may be equal or varied in different ways. There are definite advantages, however, in having the base portion 14 considerably larger than the handle portion 15, namely: (a) together they form strong rocking hinges which permit a quick check to determine whether all individual liners are free from adjacent liners, as illustrated best in FIG. 4; (b) the enlarged base area provides greater support for the patty; and (c) the narrow handle provides ample surface for grasping and manipulating the patty support.

The flexible sheet or web liner 17 is an important and necessary part of the liner structure for the following reasons: (a) its flexibility permits it to drape itself over substantially the entire butter patty while said patty is soft at the time of packaging, (b) it permits the base portions 14 of the segmented parts of members 13 to be less than the surface area of the patties and thus (c) provide room for handles 15 without going outside the area of the patties, while at the same time (d) preventing any contact between the handles and the butter. If such contact were permitted it would be impossible to separate the segmented portions of member 13, as illustrated in FIG. 6. It is the liner 17 that enables the surprising and paradoxical result to be achieved of (a) having liners with handles that occupy no greater area than that occupied by the aggregated patties, while said patties remain in their aggregated package, yet (b) occupy considerably greater area when released from their aggregation into individual patties.

Operation In the operation of the structure, the container 10 having pockets 11 drawn therein is filled with butter or other plastic food material to form the patties 12, as illustrated best in FIG. 1. Over the patties are then placed the segmental plates 13 to which are anchored the sheet liners 17 so that the entire surface of the patties is covered, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The container with the food patties therein, sealed by the plate-like liners 13, may then be shipped to a desired destination, the liners being held in position by adhesion to the butter. When the patties are to be dispensed for use, the mold chambers or pockets 11' may be pressed down, as shown best in FIG. 3, to discharge the patties so that they lie upon the liners 17 and 13. The liners in the position shown in FIG. 3 may then be moved laterally from each other to separate the patties into individual patties, as shown in FIG. 6, each being supported upon a sheet liner 17 and the enlarged base area 14 of the plate-like support element, the handle 15 projecting outwardly, as illustrated best in FIGS. 8, 9, l0 and ll. The user may then grasp the handle 15 as illustrated in FIG. 7, and the patty may be manipulated and moved at will.

In the foregoing operation, there is provided, in effect, a patty plate which has a double or false" bottom, one section or layer being in direct contact with the butter or other food and coextensive with the base thereof, while the other section or layer, which is not in direct contact with the butter, provides also a partial base for thebutter but with a non-base portion forming a handle extending out from and beyond the base. The sections or layers of this false bottom plate are so arranged and intermeshed that their total linear area does not take up any more area in the aggregate than the base area of an aggregated group of patties, yet when separated from the group, they, with their extended handles, occupy considerably more linear area than that occupied by the bases of the patties. Thus, the supporting structure does not increase storage or shipping space needed for the patty itself, but in the separated relation provides the additional handle space needed for use at the point of consumption by the diner.

While in the foregoing specification I have set forth specific structure and procedure in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that such details of structure and procedure may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In combination with a flexible sheet support having mold pockets, plastic food patties in said pockets, :1 platelike liner for each pocket covering the patty therein and adapted to receive the patty discharged from its associated pocket, said liner extending over at least two of said patties and being divided longitudinally to provide an enlarged relatively rigid base under its associated patty and an outwardly-extending handle of reduced area.

2. The structure of claim l in which each liner base carries a sheet liner covering each patty.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which the plate-like liner is generally rectangular in shape.

4. In combination with a flexible plastic container having pockets formed therein is aligned relation, food material in said pockets forming patties, plate-like liners extending over and enclosing the exposed surfaces of said patties, one liner being provided for each patty. said liners being segmented to form complementary rocking and separable segments, each segment having an enlarged relatively rigid base portion and an outwardly-extending handle of reduced area.

5 6 v 5. In combination with a sheet support having mold References Cited by the Examiner pockets, glastic material forming iatties in said pockets, 8, UNITED STATES PATENTS flexible s eet liner over each poc et in engagement with I I the patty therein, plate-like liners over said sheet liners 25951 10/61 Kolander 99-438 with one plate-like linear and sheet liner for each pocket, 5 1'808949 6/31 Flynn each of said plate-like liners .covering at least two of said 2'598'987 6/52 Franzen patties and being divided longitudinally to form an en- 12/52 Ramsbottomvet a1 larged relatively rigid base portion engaging each patty 2,870,023 1/59 Vogt "f 99-479 and' an outwardly-extending handle portion, and means for anchoring the base portion to said sheet liner. LOUIS MONACELL Pnmary Examiner ABRAHAM H. WINKELSTEIN, Examiner. 

5. IN COMBINATION WITH A SHEET SUPPORT HAVING MOLD POCKETS, PLASTIC MATERIAL FORMING PATTIES IN SAID POCKETS, A FLEXIBLE SHEET LINER OVER EACH POCKET IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PATTY THEREIN, PLATE-LIKE LINERS OVER SAID SHEET LINERS WITH ONE PLATE-LIKE LINEAR AND SHEET LINER FOR EACH POCKET, EACH OF SAID PLATE-LIKE LINERS COVERING AT LEAST TWO OF SAID PATTIES AND BEING DIVIDED LONGITUDINALLY TO FORM AN ENLARGED RELATIVELY RIGID BASE PORTION ENGAGING EACH PATTY AND AN OUTWARDLY-EXTENDING HANDLE PORTION, AND MEANS FOR ANCHORING THE BASE PORTION TO SAID SHEET LINER. 